From Dust to Digital: Redefining the Foundry with Smart Maintenance

#ProMFG2026 #PMAMSummit #SmartMaintenance #FoundryDigitalization #PlantOperations #IndustrialAutomation #ReliabilityEngineering #KOSOIndia #Industry40

"Foundry is the mother of all industries, but we must protect the tools that build the world. Clean up the environment first, and automation will deliver the profits." - A.S. Shivakumaran, Director - Foundry, KOSO India

June 2026 : For decades, the metallurgy and foundry sector carried a heavy reputation defined by the "Three Ds": dirty, dangerous, and difficult. It was rarely the first choice for young engineers, operating out of harsh, dust-heavy environments plagued by frequent, unplanned downtimes.

Yet, a profound evolution is unfolding under the surface. At the 7th Edition of the Pro MFG Plant Maintenance & Asset Management (PMAM) Summit 2026 in Coimbatore, industry leaders gathered to challenge these age-old perceptions. Organized by Pro MFG Media alongside Presenting Partner Mobil and Gold Partner ImageGraphix, the summit spotlighted how factories are Leveraging Digital Tools for Reliable Plant Operations.

Among the defining voices of the panel was A.S. Shivakumaran, Director - Foundry at KOSO India, who shared a captivating inside look at how digitalization is breathing new life into the traditional manufacturing floor.

"Foundry is the mother of all industries," Shivakumaran stated proudly, acknowledging its foundational role in manufacturing. However, historical vulnerabilities in raw sand systems and melting operations required a modern antidote. Today, digital tools are acting as that cure, bringing precision to areas once reliant solely on institutional memory. Take chemistry control, for instance. Where a handful of specialist metallurgists once manually calculated complex chemical compositions, automated systems now handle the heavy lifting. Operators simply program the desired quantities of carbon or nickel, and automated machinery precisely feeds the furnace. In the molding area, the change is equally sharp. Integrated sensor networks now constantly track sand temperatures, while advanced load cells eliminate the guesswork of measuring material levels inside enclosed, opaque silos. By feeding this live data directly into SCADA systems and testing labs, maintenance has shifted from a chaotic emergency to a smooth, predictable routine.

The real-world proof of this shift lies in the output numbers. In classic steel foundries, a one-to-one ratio was standard: one worker equated to roughly one metric ton of production. Thanks to smart tools, specialized casting sectors in Coimbatore have shattered that benchmark. Today, digitalized volume sectors are seeing a single worker drive 20 metric tons of output. This exponential, twenty-fold jump in productivity underscores that digitalization is no longer an optional luxury - it is a core engine of competitive survival.

Despite these staggering numbers, widespread adoption faces a massive physical barrier: high capital costs. In a foundry, digital sensors fail quickly if they are choked by heat and abrasive particles.

Shivakumaran offered a blunt, pragmatic piece of advice for plant managers eager to purchase the latest software or smart tech: Fix your air quality first. Management must prioritize strong dust-collection systems to create a clean micro-climate for electronics. Once the harsh environment is stabilized, the tech investments will actually survive and yield the intended ROI. By choosing clear operational goals - whether prioritizing raw volume, scrap reduction, or maximum margins - leaders can deploy high-yield automation that translates directly to the bottom line.

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